United States v. Roach, No. 14-50260 (9th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseDefendant, owner of All Metals Processing Company, appealed his conviction of one count of storing and causing the storage of hazardous waste without a permit in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6928(d)(2)(A). The court concluded that even accepting defendant's argument based on the technical definitions of “storage” and “disposal” contained in the RCRA, he was clearly engaged in storing hazardous waste in the sealed and intact containers left in the premises at issue. Therefore, it is not necessary for the court to resolve the issue whether, if he had been so charged, defendant could not have been found guilty of both storage and disposal of the containers that were leaking. The court also concluded that, while defendant may have abandoned the premises in which the containers were stored, the containers were not abandoned. Thus, defendant is guilty for "causing the storage of waste" under 18 U.S.C. 2(b). The court affirmed the judgment.